That would be the best option, but I’m afraid the tech transfer office at the university, who will be the ones doing the filing, has no incentive to release a patent. Their whole goal is profit.
MH
Karma: 147
That is exactly my worry with just publishing it. As I understand it, anyone can make a small tweak and patent the whole thing in a way that limits the technology from being used widely.
Hey Sahkeel,
I actually work part-time for GFI. I have spoken to several of the Scitech folks, and surprisingly there is no set strategy for these cases. There seems to be a gradual change over time from strongly supporting open-source science to more nuanced ‘maybe patent but in a non-limiting way’.
What I understand is that they now believe filing a non-limiting or free license patent is preferable, as otherwise anyone can make a small tweak in the published method and patent it for profit.
The thing is I would love to patent and give it license-free, but I’m afraid I don’t have the power to make that decision, as the tech transfer office will do the filing and the ownership will be mostly the university’s.